Libertarian Thought in Nineteenth Century Britain by William R. McKercher

Author:William R. McKercher [McKercher, William R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, Europe, Great Britain, Modern, 19th Century
ISBN: 9781317190950
Google: WnG3DAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-07-22T16:18:11+00:00

Libertarian Journals and their Organizational Links

The publication of radical journals and pamphlets was prolific in the 1880s and 1890s. Unfortunately it would be too simple just to say that they were products of the particular organization to which they were connected, especially in the case of the journals. Although some were the 'official organs' of a particular organizational body, others were published by a small group of people dedicated to a doctrine which they were determined to propagate in the most effectual manner possible, even though they produced the journal with little public support. Some journals were the product of those people whose publishing interest led them into circulating material which they believed represented the view of a good number, but as yet unorganized section of the public. We shall deal with a representative journal of each type which found itself in one of these positions.

Since we are limiting ourselves to a specific area of political theory, it is necessary to draw together, in terms of ideas, a few of the journals which are of primary interest to the libertarian movement. They all have two main things in common as a matter of policy, as indeed does all libertarian thought; -- they are advocates of decentralization, through the devolution of power on non-hierarchical lines, and they believed that only through social revolution, as opposed to political revolution, could their struggle for freedom be won.83 For the sake of the continuity of development and historical perspective we will use journals which existed alongside one another in a particular period. All were published in London during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. Each claimed to be the representative organ of some sectional interest in British society although their aspirations were international. But as well as operating as blatant propaganda organs, they existed also as forums for unorthodox critical debate both in England and abroad and could be read with ease by either the converted or the sceptical. These journals were revolutionary in the sense that they were wholly dedicated to the overthrow of the existing social and political order.

As far as it is possible we shall deal specifically with the three journals which seem to fulfil all of the above criteria: the Commonweal (1885-1892), Freedom (1886-1927), and The Anarchist (1885-1888). Both the Commonweal and The Anarchist are chosen because like many other journals they did not survive the turn of the century. But in spite of this, many of their contributors and staff, by the later 1890s, had affiliated themselves to the Freedom Group which published Freedom. This gives the presentation of ideas within a certain context, some form of continuity even though the revolutionary emphasis expressed in the columns changed in relation to specific events and the flow of ideas as a result of the ever-changing flux in personnel. Many of the changes exemplified the obvious turmoil within a movement which sought to give free reign to the full consequences of its doctrines.

Over the years the more orthodox organ

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